This Checker Marathon with two front ends got me thinking about electric cars...
Why? Well, there are a lot of problems and engineering challenges that come with building a car that has two front ends, or a “Pushmi-Pullyu car” as they’re often called. Ideally, you’d want it to be able to be driven from either end, as that’s the biggest novelty/party trick of a Pushmi-Pullyu car, and this can be a tricky thing to do well. This Checker is really just some weird bodywork on a normal chassis and can only be driven from one end, but a common solution to making it drivable from either end is to start with a fwd car, and have an engine at both ends.
Problem is, then you’re always dragging a useless, heavy lump of engine around that you can’t use. You’re never able to take advantage of both engines at once. Trying to come up with a more unusual drivetrain (reversible two-stroke engines, perhaps?) to solve the problem is still fraught with compromises.
Unless... Modern technology can solve all the problems. It occurs to me that the perfect answer is an electric drivetrain! Electric cars don’t need transmissions, and electric motors can spin just as fast backwards as forwards, so you can plop an electric motor or two at both front ends of the car and make it perfectly symmetrical and capable of the same performance no matter what direction it’s going! Not only that, but it gets rid of the fact that having an engine at both ends prevents you from having a usable trunk. With an electric drivetrain, you can have two frunks, so it’s a practical, usable two-nosed car!
Normally I don’t get too excited about electric cars, but I can’t deny that an electric drivetrain is just so much better for this very specific novelty application than any ICE drivetrain could ever be. A double-ended electric would make an epic project car, provided you have the electrical skills to make it work that way.
So if any car companies are wondering how to really make me want an electric car, just give it two front ends, please and thank you!